mil_kid

Thanks for coming on here Dr. Lovell, you seem like one of the best Presidents for Marquette at this time and I am happy you are so involved with the student body.

As one of the few veterans at this university, I'm curious if there is anything that Marquette could do to help us. That is, often times the federal government cuts our funding for school year after year. In my 3 years alone, it's dropped almost $1000 from it's original amount. At times our funding is even cut out completely (for example, with last year's gov shutdown). And since this is not a state institution, it is more expensive to attend (as a veteran) than perhaps UW-M or Madison. Does Marquette offer any sort of competitive scholarship that we may take advantage of? As someone who has done their time and is not interested in ROTC, I often feel the voice of the past served is not heard.

Additionally, if you don't mind, I'd like to touch on a rather sensitive issue. With veterans, specifically, often times there is a hypersensitivity to our surroundings, especially at night when walking home on the edge of campus from the library and other buildings. And being fully qualified as a weapons expert as well as someone who takes firearms very seriously, does Marquette ever plan to allow concealed firearms on it's campus? Or have they ever thought about it? Note that obtaining a license for concealed handguns requires a 3 day course in the state of Wisconsin, and with the increase in robbery on campus this past summer, it's been a concern of mine. Not that I feel my safety is threatened daily, by any means. But there has been times when I would feel much more comfortable with a firearm walking back to my house after a late night of studying. I feel that only the most responsible individuals would be able to obtain said licensure, but I'm curious your thoughts on the matter?

Thanks again for doing an AMA!

Thanks Dr. Lovell, appreciate the feedback!

I'm not sure if I am, but I get occasional emails from the VA rep on campus. Very sparse. But if there is a larger email list on campus for veterans I'd be interested to get on that.

As far as the conceal and carry, I know it's not popular up here. But in the south it's becoming increasingly popular http://www.armedcampuses.org/ . I just think it's something worth considering seeing as Marquette is ranked fairly low on safety the minute you step off campus -- where many students live. Not gonna gripe about it but I thought it a worthy question for Mr. Lovell :)